Spider / crane debate ..... Arcadia the future ?

[stuartbert two hats]

1 hour ago, squirrelarmy said:

Isn’t there multiple versions of the Spider? This year was the smaller travelling version of the spider so wasn’t the huge monster we’ve had in the past. 
 

What I did like was the inclusion of some of the Pangea features like the balloon with acrobats hanging underneath. 

I'm pretty sure it was the same one.

[Dazmandingo96]

i love the festival and arcadia in particular, but the site can be criticised. as a spectacle it was fantastic them new lasers really added a new dimension. but the sound was SHOCKING. unbearable for many in our group. bring back pangea any day of the week.

[CaledonianGonzo]

We all watched Pangea get destroyed on the webcam 

[Boilingtent]

In my experience anyone interested enough in sound that they run a stage at Glastonbury wants nothing more than to absolute blast it.

All night there will be a flutter a radio messages getting each stage to turn up / down. There are sound monitors who drive round the site to make sure license conditions aren't being breached. Then its trying to work out which stage or stages is responsible.

Sunday night it sounded mega and was full tilt.

[stuie]

1 hour ago, squirrelarmy said:

Isn’t there multiple versions of the Spider? This year was the smaller travelling version of the spider so wasn’t the huge monster we’ve had in the past. 
 

What I did like was the inclusion of some of the Pangea features like the balloon with acrobats hanging underneath. 

No, there's only one version of the spider. 

The first incarnation of the spider was the Afterburner on legs, not been used like this since 2010 when the spider was created.  The robotic arms were removed this year and replaced with the laser show. 

The balloon with acrobats was new this year - getting confused with Luke Jerram's moon - same shape different thing. 

https://my-moon.org/

[stuie]

[Talcroft]

Ahhh the afterburner. Halcyon days. 

Clearly this year it was a last minute thing after the Pangea decision. I can imagine as a first timer how it would still seem incredible. It was a shame about Pangea. I didn't get to see it live (only at Worthy Pastures) and I'd have liked to see where they took it. 

It's hard to see where Arcadia the brand goes from here without another move (like when it moved out of SE corner). Silver Hayes after hours didn't have the same magic without the Blues... Could you replace Lonely Hearts and one of Sonic/Wow with it? Except obviously you lose the daytime acts that they have. It would help split crowds away from SE Corner though. 

Also - had Cineramageddon moved out this year? I was staff camping for the first time and lost my bearings on that side a bit but we usually camp there as a punters and I thought it seemed further from the action. 

 

[CaledonianGonzo]

10 minutes ago, stuie said:

The balloon with acrobats was new this year

That was pretty cool alright

[stuie]

Just now, CaledonianGonzo said:

That was pretty cool alright

 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Went right over our head at one point as we were stood outside the Tow & Hitch.

[Gnomicide]

As the woman dangled overhead in the balloon on the way back to our tents on Sunday night, my younger son who was on his first visit to Glastonbury commented "A week ago that would have blown my mind, now it's just 'oh look, a woman dangling from a balloon while a giant fire breathing spider goes off in the background' and you carry on walking".

[Matt87]

I think Arcadia itself is so famous on its own that it makes sense to not have recognisable names, at least to the average non-edm enthusiast, on the lineup. You'll still get huge crowds with any DJ, but if it's Clavin Harris, Chemical Bros., etc. then your creating a massive crowding issue. This isn't anything new, it's happened every year wherever they've placed the spider.

I don't really know what you do about it. I wouldn't want it to be placed in a locked down field, queue up for entry-type situation, but it will continue to attract massive crowds who quickly discover that the sound is usually subpar if you're not close to the spider.

[watsonjm]

56 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

 "A week ago that would have blown my mind, now it's just 'oh look, a woman dangling from a balloon while a giant fire breathing spider goes off in the background' and you carry on walking".

This sums up Glastonbury so well.  Reality checks out at the gates for the week.  

[Gnomicide]

30 minutes ago, watsonjm said:

This sums up Glastonbury so well.  Reality checks out at the gates for the week.  

Once he saw a bloke dressed as a fish, fishing off the end of a pier in the middle of a farm, all bets were off.

[Penrhos]

Pangea was supposed to "Fix" the issues with the spider - bigger dance field, better sound system but the local planners didn't like it so it had to go...

 

I think Arcadia did a Stella job getting what they did up and running in time for the gates to open.

 

Arcadia's problem is it's a destination regardless of who's on, add a crowd pulling DJ and you're totally fucked as the field can't cope with the numbers of people, the sound system only really works if you're under the spider, and getting in/out is a total PITA.

 

Silver Hayes was a total disappointment again this year - maybe it's time to rethink both areas? 

 

Stick a large dance tent up where Arcadia is so the sound can be contained and turned up (something the size of "King Tut's" from TiTP) that way big name DJ's will work better up there and it'd be easier to control pedestrian traffic  in/out.

 

Drop the spider down into the valley where Silver Hayes is now but add stuff around it to contain the sound and use it as a focal point for a revamped Silver Hayes.

 

BTW - loved the location for "San Remo" - worked much better than "Beats Hotel" spot.

 

 

 

[CurlyPutz]

I enjoyed the old girl, shame about the sound but still a cracking stage. 

[Pinhead]

5 hours ago, stuie said:

 

IMG_0642.MOV

This is not as new a concept as people might think... Years ago this baloon with the attached acrobat used to start in T&C and float over Holts - were talking around mid- noughties.

[dougal1]

How many years ago was it that Arcadia was in SE corner and had a full theatrical headline show? I remember it being incredible and having monster trucks tearing through the crowds with performers on top and above. The show itself was the thing to go and see, rather than any specific DJs.

[Talcroft]

17 minutes ago, dougal1 said:

How many years ago was it that Arcadia was in SE corner and had a full theatrical headline show? I remember it being incredible and having monster trucks tearing through the crowds with performers on top and above. The show itself was the thing to go and see, rather than any specific DJs.

I remember that from 2010. I missed 11 and 13 then it had moved when I got back in 2014.

Was that the year of the human pin ball machine or was that 2009? 2010 was the year of projections in Shangri-la - that was top notch.

[bigbilly]

I think the sound I is not actually arcadias fault they are at the mercy of the sound police. Obviously budgets cut and 3 years of covid and Pangea not carrying on made it tough. However you gotta believe in the spider spirit. It will come back stronger. 

Just the fact it's there after covid is a miracle to be honest!  

[Chip Batch]

2 hours ago, CurlyPutz said:

I enjoyed the old girl, shame about the sound but still a cracking stage. 

The lasers were great this year.

[gfa]

1 hour ago, dougal1 said:

How many years ago was it that Arcadia was in SE corner and had a full theatrical headline show? I remember it being incredible and having monster trucks tearing through the crowds with performers on top and above. The show itself was the thing to go and see, rather than any specific DJs.

wtaf ?! got a video of this - how on earth were monster trucks in the crowd, sounds insane.

first timers group of 8:

• everyone thought it was awesome
• I was under it, sound wasn't fantastic - group of us further back seemed okay with it. definitely not great
• well up for a few more years of it, would like to see chems on it after missing them this year
• open to something new too though, very glad to have got to experience as until 3 months or so ago i thought i never would! its pretty damn awesome 🙂 

Moving it to Silver Hayes would be cool if thats possible. Definitely would help split crowds, to be honest though I think the huge acts like Calvin need to be doing Other headline instead in the current setup, its obviously cool him on a fire breathing spider but it just doesn't work. I'd say IICON is a good size for it but that would absolutely overwhelm the SE corner for an entire night if calvin was there.

[dougal1]

21 minutes ago, gfa said:

wtaf ?! got a video of this - how on earth were monster trucks in the crowd, sounds insane.

first timers group of 8:

• everyone thought it was awesome
• I was under it, sound wasn't fantastic - group of us further back seemed okay with it. definitely not great
• well up for a few more years of it, would like to see chems on it after missing them this year
• open to something new too though, very glad to have got to experience as until 3 months or so ago i thought i never would! its pretty damn awesome 🙂 

Moving it to Silver Hayes would be cool if thats possible. Definitely would help split crowds, to be honest though I think the huge acts like Calvin need to be doing Other headline instead in the current setup, its obviously cool him on a fire breathing spider but it just doesn't work. I'd say IICON is a good size for it but that would absolutely overwhelm the SE corner for an entire night if calvin was there.

I think this video is what I'm thinking of from years gone by, hazy memory on the trucks but I remember having to jump out of the way of one (1.24 in video but may have been different types in various years) There used to be loads of performers in the crowd and around/on the spider.

 

[Talcroft]

10 minutes ago, dougal1 said:

I think this video is what I'm thinking of from years gone by, hazy memory on the trucks but I remember having to jump out of the way of one (1.24 in video but may have been different types in various years) There used to be loads of performers in the crowd and around/on the spider.

 

I'm not ordinarily one for the 'festival was better back then' thing, but Arcadia WAS better in the SE corner. 

[squirrelarmy]

Arcadia was great in the SE corner, the issue was that everyone went in that direction as there wasn’t anything elsewhere on site. 
 

Silver Hayes could be an interesting spot though. Takes the crowds in the opposite direction to the SE corner and has nice wide access routes from the main stages.